CSUN Associated Students (AS) and its sustainability program celebrated the first of many eco-friendly functions through the Pimp My Ride: Clean Air Day celebration on the Library Lawn from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday.

Peyton Lustyk, lead event producer for AS, said the organization wanted to bring something to campus for Clean Air Day. Because so many students are commuters, they wanted to remind them that there can be alternatives for driving to campus.

“We just really wanted to highlight the people who ride their bikes, or their scooters, or their skateboards, or even just walk to campus,” she said. “It’s important in all aspects. We want to help stop pollution, and we want to make the air cleaner for everyone. It’s also just important to showcase the students who ride their bikes to campus or walk to campus.”

Cultivating community and helping students be more sustainable are just a few of the goals for AS Sustainability. Lustyk also explained, since it is the beginning of the fall semester, this event was the perfect way to make the new students on campus more aware of AS and what they have to offer.

Moe, a computer science major attendee who preferred to only share their last name, agreed that if students live far away, driving is good, but around the school, some people can ride a bike or a skateboard as an alternative.

“It’s more convenient to drive a scooter or walk,” she said, whose own mode of transportation to school every morning is by foot.

Throughout the walkway in front of the University Library, AS showcased the different eco-friendly student organizations and clubs on campus, including the CSUN Bike Shop, CSUN Environmental Club, Chargie, which offers students a way to charge their e-scooters and e-bikes on campus and Metrolink.

Dale McCann and Scott Lee, mechanics for the CSUN Bike Shop, offered their services to fix up bikes for any attendees or anyone passing by. They also had a supply of bike repair tools to hand out, which ran out quickly.

“Biking is a viable option; you don’t need to drive everywhere,” McCann said. “You should try and hit up a bike ride every once in a while. There are resources on campus that can help you have a bike to ride everywhere.”

Since electric bikes and scooters have become more popular on campus, the Bike Shop provides information on recycling plants near campus for empty batteries. They also offer advice on safety concerns for bike riding.

“A lot of things that you hear about bikes negatively are always over-exaggerated,” Lee said. “It’s exhausting. Another thing that I hear is it’s expensive. It probably does cost a little more to come repair your bike every so often to repair your e-scooter, but e-scooters are far more expensive than bikes ever will be – and cars, of course.”

Recycling is the first big step, which is already very simple, according to Emely Coreas, who is in charge of communications for the environmental club. Coreas advises avoiding throwing away items that can be donated in order to not increase landfills, allowing them to be used again. Additionally, taking the train is also an option in taking the first steps towards being more eco-friendly, which can be cost-effective and easier for students to get work done while commuting.

“I think a lot of people think that you have to be super dedicated to environmentalism and never make a bad decision that could negatively affect the environment,” Coreas said. “We’re all human; we all ultimately work towards a better state of practicing environmentalism. So many people already do so without knowing. So you know, you don’t have to be the biggest advocate for better sustainability or environmentalism. You probably already practice things in your daily life.”

AS Sustainability has several sustainability-themed days planned throughout the year as follow-ups, including Campus Sustainability Day on Oct. 22 and Save the Bees and the Earth Fair during the spring semester.